Monster (ONEUS Seoho x Ravn/Seojo)

Week 4, Day 3

I awoke in the morning as I felt Young Jo poke my nose twice. I rubbed my eyes before opening them to him who looked as fresh as a new batch of fruits and vegetables just arrived at the marketplace.

"Morning," I drawled as I yawned, "Why're you up so early?" My voice came out deep and raspy.

I glanced at the clock perched up on the wall in front of my bed. It was merely eight thirty, meaning I had plenty of time before Hwan Woong came knocking at my door with breakfast.

I snuggled back into my pillow. "We can sleep for a while more," I suggested hopefully. My brain was still frazzled from my intense study session yesterday. An hour more should fully wake me up and get it going once more.

"No, I was just thinking-," he started but I had to cut him off as a thought crossed my mind.

"You know, you do that quite a lot. I mean, I don't blame you given the amount of time you must have to yourself," I remarked.

"Yeah, it feels like I'm living in my head day in and day out. Some days it's not the worst thing on the planet, but most days, I wish I could just be here more," he responded, eyes looking off to the side and seeming to go some place far away, as if he had drifted off right in front of me and I was left with merely his outer shell.

He blinked and shook his head. "Sorry, that probably didn't make much sense."

"No, no," I quickly countered, "I get that."

He gave me a short-lived yet sweet smile.

"So," I started going back to what was originally going to be our conversation. "What were you thinking about?"

"I supposedly died in the market raid that took place during the war, right?" he asked for confirmation to which I nodded, confusion starting to slowly furrow my brows together as I wondered where he was going with this.

"But really, I never understood why the war occurred in the first place."

"Ah," I acknowledged, stretching out the syllable.

"I wanted to ask if you could explain it to me," he said, eyes full to the brim with innocent curiosity.

"Is it okay if I get some food in my system before I give you a mini history lesson?" I questioned. The war was nothing hard to understand yet it was, in all honesty, quite pointless which led to people rubbing their temples on how something like this could have happened or even be called a war aside from the bloodshed.

"Of course, Mister Lee," he agreed.

I scoffed as I rolled my eyes. "Don't ever call me Mister Lee again."

"Aw but it has a nice ring to it."

♥

A warm egg salad sandwich and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice later, Young Jo and I got comfortable on the window seat.

I sighed as I stretched out my legs and smoothed down my trousers. He pressed his shoulder up against mine and looked at me eagerly, as if he couldn't wait to hear the story of the Laspheim War.

"Alright, so the war occurred between 1940 and 1942. It all started when one monsoon season, when most Lasphian crops typically prosper, started to deteriorate at alarming rates. Instead of seeking out professional advice about what was causing this, Lasphia immediately pointed a finger at Azleim," I started. I could still remember the newspaper article that came out which explained the war in full. Ji A and I sat for an entire hour reading it before going back to look at the pictures of the deceased crops, of Azleim's governor's casket, of soldiers arranged in perfect, clean cut lines, and of miscellaneous items created or posted in remembrance of those who lost their lives over a petty feud.